This story follows Cupid Mark Crusaders, but it can also stand alone nicely.
Vinyl Scratch was the quiet kid at Canterlot High. She didn’t speak in class, walked too fast to keep up with in the halls, and generally tried to be as invisible as possible. So far as most people could tell, she had no friends and wanted none.
But even as a Junior, when the parties were thrown, her talents as a DJ were in demand. Nobody doubted that she’d be a pro someday.
Which also meant that, when she was at the turntables, she couldn’t get away so easily. And that gave Octavia the one and only chance she would ever have.
Entered into Artist’s Contest.
(Part of the Sunset Rising continuity.)
(This timeline continues with A Smashing Good Time.)
Chapters (1)
Nice sorry
Magnificent bit of Octascratch. Not the first time I've seen Vinyl as a modern Beethoven, but I do love the idea. (Meanwhile, Cheese Sandwich as the CHS orchestra teacher kind of blows my mind, but it does work.) It's never easy to convey music in a visual medium like text, but you pulled it off fantastically. Thank you for another wonderful story.
Perfectly, utterly, completely happy my flank, she’s just in denial
As a late-deafened musician, well done.
Wow, I didn’t expect to see positive representation of a character with disabilities. This was a really nice read.
So...with all due respect, what does her voice sound like?
Hardly the first OctaScratch story I've read, and certainly not the last, but this was definitely a good one considering its short length.
11541890
Vinyl is much more self-conscious in this story than she should be. I'm not certain how best to describe her voice, so in this story I didn't try.
Because she'd had hearing problems all her life, her tone was slightly different than someone outside of the Deaf / Hard of Hearing community, and she was very aware of how it could mark her as a person without perfect hearing. She still has a very nice voice, though, because the person I modeled her after had a very nice voice. It was mostly being labelled as "the deaf girl" that she was trying to avoid in high school, though she's still somewhat shy of being heard by people aside from Octavia at the end.
11544483
Truth be told I was semi-recently diagnosed by an audiologist with mild high frequency hearing loss, one of the symptoms besides tinnitus is I sometimes misjudge how loud I am in a conversation particularly when I get excited or something.
Her situation is of course different, but In a small effort at reaching out, I do often feel a teensy bit embarrassed when someone points out me being louder than needed.
11544512
Ah. I, on the other hand, tend to have over-sensitivity to speech, among other features. So, if you were "too loud" around me I probably couldn't tell; I'd just assume it was me.
My challenge tends to be communication itself, especially nonverbal communication. But over the years I've gotten pretty good at compensation.
11544569
ah nonverbal communication and other such social cues aren't exactly my forte either being on the autism spectrum. I can only hope that I too have somewhat improved over the years.
on the other hoof...I could snark about giving up communication in whole to best ensure I don't freak the normies out too badly
11544584
Heh. Yeah, the snark is always tempting.
I am ancient enough that they weren't testing anyone for autism when I was in school, but I can dig it. Body language can be just the worst.
I actually tried staying away from social contact for a while. Tragically, the lack of practice just made my difficulties worse. And the normies always, always freak. No matter what. Live and learn, I guess.
(old man voice) "Ohhhhh, the stories I could tell..."
11544669
heh, one of my issues is I work with a lot of college-age (food service) every so often there's a student or coworker who catches my attention and I want to be friendly, but not come across as predatory.
11544679
Heh. Yeah, it can be hard to be clear. I can dig it. I've learned some body language tricks that helps me seem approachable (relatively), but approaching others is always a dice roll, and plenty of people just find me abjectly terrifying regardless1. I've just learned over the years to treasure the people who aren't terrified rabbits.
1) It's okay to laugh when I say that. ;)